Couples united with wedding photos seized from defunct studio

The first of 3,600 couples whose wedding memories were locked away when a photography company shut down in January were finally united with their keepsakes today.

About 100 couples from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania went to the state Division of Consumer Affairs office in Newark to retrieve their portraits, photographs and DVDs taken by Celebration Studios.

Mark Dye/For the Star-LedgerNadine Misko, 35, Bergen County, look at prints in her album at the State Division of Consumer Affairs office who distributes wedding photos and videos to customers of the defunct Celebration Studios at there offices on Halsey Street in Newark today.

Today marks the first in a series of pick-up dates that will continue for several months until all 1,700 couples who filed official complaints have retrieved their goods, said division director David Szuchman.

Mark Dye/For the Star-LedgerState Division of Consumer Affairs employee Eva Knights looks for names on boxes of photos as there office distributes wedding photos and videos to customers of the defunct Celebration Studios at there offices on Halsey Street in Newark today.

"It's a big amount of memories we're able to give back," he said, gesturing to shelves lined with gilded portraits and nearly 4,000 file boxes filled with photos and albums.

For some, like Toms River couple Melissa and David Haneke, who married in June 2006, it was an opportunity to relive their special day.

"The first thing we're going to do is go home and watch the DVD," said David Haneke, 33, as he and his wife flipped through a file of photographs and discs. "We were so nervous at the ceremony that there was so much we probably missed."

The returning of the long-sought items follows a ruling earlier this month by Superior Court Judge Catherine Langlois, who directed the division to begin distributing the photographs and video footage by Nov. 21.

The state had confiscated the material from Celebration Studios' Clifton warehouse after the business, with branches throughout the region, went belly-up.